CLOSE VOTING IN ST. ALBANS

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25955, 8 November 1949, Page 4

CLOSE VOTING IN ST. ALBANS

CANTERBURY SEATS

Narrow Margin In 1946 NATIONAL PARTY’S CHANCES (By Our Parliamentary Re-porter) So close was the voting for the then newly-formed St. Albans seat in the 1946 General Election that the winning National Party candidate, Mr J. T. Watts, did not know he was elected until the following week-end, four days alter polling day. The count on polling day, in fact, gave a scant majority to liis Labour opponent, Mr C. Morgan Williams, the former member for Kaiapci, an electorate which had gone out of existence; but these figures were later reversed, and Mr Watts won by 86 votes.

This lead of 86 votes in a big suburban electorate is A one of the smallest the National Party has throughout New Zealand, and the great importance of the marginal seats in the 1949 election makes the contest in St. Albans one of the most interesting in the South Island.

Mr Morgan Williams in 1947 accepted a seat on the New Zealand Dairy Board and is not again standing for Parliament. For an opponent this time Mr Watts has Mr George Manning, a veteran supporter of the Labour Party in Christchurch, a Labour member of the City Council, and the present chairman of the Labour-controlled Tramway Board.

A partner in a Christchurch legal firm. Mr Watts, who is now in his fortieth year, has had six years in the House of Representatives, the first three of them as member for Riccarton. When the new St Albans seat was created, he moved across to it. A frequent speaker jn the House, he has taken an increasingly big share in Opposition debates in the House. Two of his favourite subjects are the cost of living under the present Government, and the price control system. The cost of living, especially as it affects housewives, should be a popular topic in St. Albans, where in the last election 1600 more women voted than did men. Mr Watts has been a popular and hard-working member, although an electorate like St. Albans is difficult to represent. It is an oldestablished district, and apart from assisting individual constituents there is little ihe local member can do for the electorate as a whole. . If the district wants a new road, it deals with the City Council, not Parliament, and it is well served with such amenities as post offices and even telephone booths.

Mr Watts has, nevertheless, established a reputation as one of the most promising of the National Party’s younger men, and his work in the House in the last session certainly enhanced his chances of becoming much more than a private member should his party become the Government.

Long Record of Service Mr Manning has in his favour a long record of service in local body affairs. He has long been associated with the Workers’ Educational Association, has been a valuable member of the City Council and of other local bodies, and has carried the burden of standing for difficult Parliamentary seats in Labour’s interests. His latest local body post—chairman of the Tramway Board —may not win him many votes. St. Albans has many property owners, who, as ratepayers, may not be too enthusiastic about the recent legislation empowering the board to double its special rating. A skilled debater, with a pleasing personality and a good knowledge of practical politics, Mr Manning may be expected to poll well, however, and should do as well as did Mr Morgan Williams. The result in St. Albans is not made easier to forecast by the big shifts in population which have occurred in th? electorate. The main electoral roll is 14,020 now. against a main roll of 12,901 in 1946, and when the supplementary roll is added, the total effective roll should be much above thfe 1946 figure of 14,384. As well as the increase in the number of voters, there have also been a number of re 5 sidential changes, and much new homebuilding in St. Albans in the last three years. ’ Both parties have been organising hard in the electorate, and both say they are confident of victory. The contest for St Albans in 1949 may be as interesting, if not quite so close, as it was in 1946.